VANDALIA, OHIOPUNXSUTAWNEY, PA.

February 03, 2008

LOS ANGELESBreakthrough reported in writer-studio talks A breakthrough in contract talks has been reached between Hollywood studios and striking writers and could lead to a tentative deal as early as next week, a person close to the ongoing negotiations said Saturday. The two sides breached the gap Friday on the thorniest issues, those concerning compensation for projects distributed via the Internet, said the person, who requested anonymity because he were not authorized to speak publicly. A second person familiar with the talks, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said that significant progress had been made and a deal might be announced within a week. The people did not provide specific details on the possible agreement. AUGUSTA, MAINERomney wins presidential preference vote Mitt Romney won the presidential preference voting among Maine Republicans on Saturday in the party's municipal caucuses, which were heavily attended across the state. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, had a little over half of the vote with about two-thirds of the towns holding caucuses reporting. John McCain worked to keep his vote above 20 percent, trailed by Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee. The nonbinding votes, the first step toward electing 18 Maine delegates to the Republican National Convention, were taking place in public schools, Grange halls, fire stations and town halls across the state. THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDSMother of teen now convinced she's dead The mother of missing American teenager Natalee Holloway said that she's now convinced her daughter is dead after watching hidden camera footage of a Dutch student allegedly acknowledging involvement, according to an interview published Saturday. "I can let her go now and begin mourning," Beth Twitty said in an interview late Friday with the best-selling Dutch daily De Telegraaf. "The 1 percent of hope I had that she was still alive is gone." Joran van der Sloot on Friday denied that he had anything to do with Holloway's disappearance in Aruba, saying he lied when he told someone privately he was involved.